Note: Before the Family History Expo in November, The Star asked readers to submit family names to see what could be found on newspapers.com. We spent 30 minutes on some of them to see what we could find.
Julie Gradillas asked for information on behalf of her father, Albert Catalano, who wanted to know more about his family. Albert’s mother’s surname was previously Hernandez and his father’s surname was Catalano.
A wealth of information came from an article in the Arizona Daily Star in 2004 by Bonnie Henry. She interviewed Albert Catalano and wrote a story about his father, Giuseppe. Albert’s age at the time of Henry’s article and his current age match up when allowing for the passage of time, and names in wedding announcements indicate this is the same Albert Catalano. Of course, he already knows the information in this article.
Albert’s daughter says that Albert’s father died when Albert was young. According to Henry’s article, Albert was 8 years old when his father died of complications from diabetes.
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We found wedding announcements for Albert, who married Margaret Delgado Alegria in 1957; his brother Ernesto, who married Antonia Fimbres in 1962, and brother Frank, who married Betty Ann Crumbley in 1963. Julie Catalano was the flower girl in Ernesto’s wedding. That may be our submitter, now Julie Gradillas.
Since, according to the announcement, two of Albert’s groomsmen were brothers Frank and Ernie, we believe we still have the correct family connections. Two of them name the grooms’ mother as Mrs. Giuseppe Rocco Catalano. Albert’s announcement refers to his mother as Cristina Catalano, but Henry’s article says Giuseppe’s wife was Christina.
Giuseppe’s father may have been Saetano Catalano. Two articles in the Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, Colo., one in 1895 and one in 1910, mention that Saetano Catalano filed naturalization papers and became a U.S. citizen. Perhaps one of them was Saetano Jr., although we don’t know if there is a junior, otherwise we have no explanation for the duplication 15 years apart.
